An electric clothes iron consists essentially of a heated sole plate that is pressed against fabric to remove wrinkles. To be effective, the sole plate of an iron must be very hot. Thus, there is a serious danger of burning the fabric or ironing board or even igniting a fire from an electric iron inadvertently left unattended. In addition, irons are relatively heavy, and awkward. Lifting and placing an iron on its tail can be physically straining on the operator's wrist. Furthermore, when the iron is placed on its tail, the hot sole plate is exposed and may cause accidental contact with the sole plate by the user can result in severe burns.
The inventor describes several solutions to these problems in U.S. Pat. No. 6,453,587, issued Sep. 24, 2002, and U.S. Pat. No. 6,925,738, issued Aug. 9, 2005; which patents are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety. Here, the iron's hot sole plate is moved away and lifted off the surface it may be resting on. Non-heated heel and toe pistons will emerge from the bottom surface after the user lets go of the handle. The pistons lift the hot sole plate far enough away to prevent garment damage and/or fires, and the electric power may be cut to the sole plate heaters so it will eventually cool down and be safe.
User, manufacturing, and sales experience with these products has lead to many ways that these newest electric clothes irons can be further improved. For example, if an iron is left laid flat on its soleplate, its lifting mechanism should not cause it to roll over on its side. The lifting mechanism should also not interfere with the basic functional parts of the iron, such as the water tank, chassis, soleplate or steam chamber parts.